Tours - Monday, November 3, 2014
Tour 1 - Urban Oak Field Tour - 9AM-4:15PM
Start: 9:00 AM at Marriott
Stop #1) 9:10 – 10:00
Location: St. John’s Riverwalk - just north of St. John’s Parkway on N. Ben Maddox Way
Introduction – discussion of history of oak management in Visalia, explanation of protection ordnance, discussion on irrigating urban oaks (how much to water, when, how do you decide if you need to irrigate). Short walk down path. Bus parks on street, bus will need to make a circle as part of route to turn around and head west on St. John’s parkway.
Stop #2) 10:10 – 11:00
Location: Another section of St. John’s Riverwalk, located just past 2644 St. John’s Parkway
Medians and urban recreation – discuss managing large trees in medians and around roadways; point out how the oaks in the medians are all in a row because they mark where old fencelines and property lines were located; oaks are good for medians because they provide scale; oaks shade road and reduce heat island effect; discuss road management with large roots and trunks (be sure to include information on root zone for those in the crowd who may not know); discuss connecting walkways through Visalia along waterways and in other areas. Pruning demonstration (how much to cut). Discuss use of mulch. Bus pulls off to curb and parks on street?
Bathroom break here – Port-a-potty
Take extended route through downtown, then drive through a neighborhood with large oaks. Need planned route.
Stop #3) 11:45 – 12:30
Location: Across the street from 1225 Conyer St.
Very large old oak located at a house at this address. Discuss management of oaks in neighborhoods…cost of management (pruning/trimming), safety issues, limb failures. Options are: reduction, removal, or “leave them untouched”. What are decision making criteria for choosing between options? Bus can park across the street from tree, next to curb. Conyer St. in this area is a small residential street and there’s a church (?) across from the house?
Stop #4) 12:40 – 2:30
Location: Near the Visalia police substation at 4100 County Center Rd.
Lunch at park across the street from substation. Not sure about the best place to park the bus. Covered area if it’s raining (shade cloth or steel roof)? Lunch for 45 minutes. Remainder of time is spent discussing the sort of space needed to plant oaks in an urban environment. How Visalia uses waterways as corridors for wildlife and as “space” to plant oaks. Tour restoration site. Discuss how commercial construction deals with building near/around oaks in Visalia. A bit of walking is required here, no more than a half mile total. Discuss carbon footprint of turf in public areas vs. oaks and mulch. Maintenance costs for turf vs. oaks and other options. Amount of water and other inputs needed to maintain turf vs. oaks and other landscaping options. Impact of drought stress, pests, etc.
Bathroom break here.
Stop #5) 2:50 – 4:00
Location: Kaweah Oaks Preserve. 29979 Road 182, Exeter, CA 93221
Discuss differences in oaks in natural vs. urban settings. Nathan Higgins speaks about the preserve? Short walk, ½ to ¾ mile round trip. More if desired? Need to let them know we are coming with a bus. Bus should be able to park off side of road safely.
Bathroom break here.
End: 4:15 PM at Marriott
Tour 2 - Oak Ecology, Restoration, Native American Use of Plants, including Acorn Soup Demonstration - 9AM-4PM
First stop: Dry Creek Preserve. This is a reclaimed aggregate mine site that features sycamore alluvial woodland with a strong valley oak component. There is a plant nursery on the site that provides plants for revegetation projects. The Nursery Manager will talk about these efforts. Jennifer Malone (Wukchumni) will talk about Native American use of native plants for basketry.
Second stop: Homer Ranch. This working ranch features blue oak woodland in upland areas and intact sycamore alluvial woodland along Dry Creek. Lois Conner will do an acorn soup demonstration here using mortar cups on the site. Acorns could be collected at the site by participants, or Lois may bring some black oak acorns (to be determined).